Dale and Jena Forehand

idol: "something or someone who we have excessive attachment or devotion to"

Can I really be an idol unto myself? Well, I can honestly say that there was a time in my life when I was excessively attached and devoted to my appearance above all things. But that got all cleared up when I was in a major car wreck the summer before my senior year in high school and all my friends came to see me in the hospital. I had absolutely no make-up on, and those hospital gowns were not flattering at all!!!!I quickly learned how instantly outward beauty can vanish.The truth is that many of us have made our appearance an idol out of our own selfish choosing. Others of us have made our appearance an idol because we have succumb to the pressures of those around us, including peers and media. Still others of us have made our appearance an idol, because we were verbally wounded as a way to manipulate us to change our looks (especially when it comes to losing weight).

No matter which category you consider yourself, all are a stronghold that satan has used (and it's working really well) to detour our focus off the magnificent obsession: Jesus Christ. Satan has distracted us with ourselves, and thus from the One who deserves our "excessive attachment or devotion to".

Paul said this: "But whatever was to my profit, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him."Philippians 3:7-9

So now it bids us all the question: how do you consider yourself? A person obsessed with your looks to the point that you enter a room and look to see of there is any competition? A person so obsessed that you miss out on real relationships with others because you are so self-consumed? Or a person who wants nothing more than to know Christ? And as He works on the inside , she radiates on the outside?

"Those who look to Him are RADIANT." Psalm 34:5

My prayer is that all of us would be able to say as Paul did that all of that being consumed with our appearance is nothing to us in comparison with knowing Jesus Christ, letting Him make you beautiful.Watch this video and listen to the song "Beautiful" by Bethany Dillon....introduced to me by my daughter, Jorja...... it says it all.

When I growing up, I would get all worked up about what I was wearing to church on Sunday morning. I wanted my hair and make-up to be perfect and certainly I wanted my clothes to be perfectly in, perfectly matching, and fitting perfectly on me! One day, in my frustration of "I don't have a thing to wear!" (which was so not true), I remember my Mother saying, "Church is to go and meet with God; not to see and be seen!"

I have never forgotten that phrase....I have applied it to my own life and even said that to both of my children in their "wardrobe come-aparts"! But this week, as we begin with BODY LIES, we must look long, hard, and honestly into this whole performance trap that so many of us fall prey to. We must take the time to ask ourselves, "Have I taken the perspective that my activities make me who I am?" If so, we may find ourselves not a far shot from the Pharisaical folks we cringe to never want to be!

In the Scripture from Matthew 23, the words that stuck out to me were this: "Everything they do is done for men to see." So what's the check if we are a part of activities for the right reasons and with the right perspective, or not? Ask yourself this: when I do things (i.e. display my talent, sacrificially give and serve, etc.) am I mad when no one acknowledges it? Do I find myself trying to draw attention to what I am doing so that people will throw me an "atta-boy"?

Jesus said it like this: "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Colossians 3:17

My challenge to all of us is this: the next activity you are a part of and you feel that need for approval thought slip in, just whisper this little sweet comment to the Lord, "It's all for You" and let Him affirm you and tell you how much He loves and approves of you. After all, we are not redeemed by the world's thoughts and approval of you, but by what God thinks of you and your offering of yourself as a living sacrifice unto Him.

And be sure of this: He sees you.....and you are being seen by Him.....He doesn't miss a thing you do, and when your heart is right (activity that honors Him), your activity becomes something incredible beautiful to Him.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

23May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

Not too long ago, Dale and I were going to be interviewed in our home for a well-known marriage magazine. The editor had told us that she was also bringing with her a photographer who would take some pictures of us as well. I frantically went through our house getting everything just perfect for them to come. I wanted everything in its perfect place and certainly wanted the photographer able to find a clean, well-decorated area for pictures. I got the house complete except for three loads of laundry I hadn't had time to fold. I shoved the three baskets in my walk-in closet and ran out the door to pick up our kids before the interview team arrived.

When I got home, I saw that they had already arrived before me and Dale had let them in. I walked in ready to delightfully meet them and couldn't find them anywhere! I go from room to room looking for them and finally called out to Dale to help me locate their where-a bouts. Dale calls out to me from our bedroom, and as I walk around the corner, I see that he has lead them straight into our walk-in closet! He exclaims, "Hey, Honey! They just needed to help us pick out the color scheme for what we should wear." I was mortified as they gingerly walked around my three baskets to get to the clothes. How humiliating!

But isn't this how we treat God sometimes? I mean, really? Don't we say that we will allow Him access to every part of our hearts, but yet keep some cluttered areas secluded from His touch? And yet our loving Father longs for us to be FULLY surrendered....offering every single part of me, even the messy areas that we try to hide and keep out of sight. May we open the door to our home (lives) and let Him go wherever He wants and do whatever He needs to do to heal, break, mold, and shape us into the women He created us to be.

May we allow our God, the God of peace, access to all of who we are: body, soul, and spirit so that He can authenticate us through and through until we are completely His, and complete in Him....authentic!

Two things stuck out for me:1) "If something 'deeper' were causing you vision problems...." in talking about having the wrong perceptions, something going on in the depths of us can indeed blur our vision!

Have you ever awakened to have this film covering your eyes and you can't see clearly? What if a person, a wound, a heartache, your raising, etc. caused a film to cover over your eyes and you are not seeing clearly? And what if you have gone through life and never even realized that you can't see? I'll never forget when Jorja got her glasses for the first time, she was so excited and amazed at the details she could see in leaves on the trees! She never knew what she was missing because she had grown accustomed to blurred vision.....have we become accustomed to our blurred vision too? of ourselves? of God?

2) "Seek to see beyond what your natural eye can see...." so I asked God to reveal to me of all I've done today, what did He show me with my natural eye that He wants me to get a spiritual truth from?

He reminded me of the chipmunk I saw running in the hole and I tried to get him to come out....then He reminded me about the vine that is seeking to take over my bush outside and how hard it was (and painful as it has thorns on it) to pull it out.....then, how the birdseed in our bird feeder is stuck inside and the birds can't get to it and get what they need.....and finally, how Jorja and I started a cleanse today. What do all of those things have in common?

THINGS INSIDE THAT NEED TO COME OUT! Some that are harmful and toxic!Some that if they could come out might help nourish another!

Oh, Lord, may the eyes of our hearts be able to gain clear vision of who You are and who we are to be in light of who You are! May we see the natural through Your spiritual lenses and hear You speak to us about what You want to do in our lives through this study. And, Lord, whatever is in us that is blurring our true vision of ourselves and You, oh God, help us to get it out so that it will no longer harm us, nor hinder us, and so that we could help another going through similar things.

May we be blown away by what we've been missing as You, Oh Lord, bring us new and clear vision!!!!